


Death Before Decaf

by Haephnes



Category: Fire Emblem Series, ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 | JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, I'm gonna add more tags later because i'm lazy, Multi, it's a coffeeshop au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-05-19 20:49:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14880959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haephnes/pseuds/Haephnes
Summary: Coffee addiction is a pain in the ass to deal with. Turns out the one thing that fuels your work life also turns out to fuel your love life.Various x ReaderReader is gender neutral unless specified.1. Aizawa Shouta (BNHA)2. Josuke Higashikata (JJBA)





	1. Aizawa - Cat Cafe

You had always heard about this supposed hip new, down to earth, cat cafe, but you had never visited it before. Your friends had urged you to to ever since rumors about how cute their head barista was, and your friends also insisted that he was _just your type._ You scoffed at this, asking for them to send you pictures in order to even try to affirm this notion, but no one had the pictures to back up this claim. All in all you weren’t really that outgoing anyways, so anything about going out to this cafe wasn’t really on your top priority. But today was your day off, and nothing was going on for you in particular. Your usual cafe was too busy and crowded for you to try and sit down and get any work done, so anything was an option at this point. You had been craving this drink you friend had let you try a while back for a long ass time. Coincidentally, the cat cafe had your drink craving when you checked their menu online.  _So you packed up your shit and headed right on down._ **  
**

As soon as you got there you noticed the large board on the wall, adorned with pictures of cats, and their names up in bubbly letters. The names ranged from things like,  _“Honey Mustard,”_  to  _“Scar Face,”_  and you weren’t sure about how you felt about this until you saw the cats themselves. A cat matching the description of “Honey Mustard” trotted up to you as soon as you peered your head around from the entrance hallways. The soft,  _“Prrrpt!!”_  made your heart melt immediately and you dropped down to a squat to gush over the fat, golden furbaby in front of you. There was a hard thump as he fell over to expose his belly to you, causing you to coo at the silly cat. While you were busy petting the cat you hadn’t noticed the looming figure above you until the sound of a throat clearing alerted you to the presence. You looked up in slight fear of looking like a nuisance.

“Please take a seat anywhere and I’ll be with you in just a second.” He said, voice low but clear.

“Ah, sure…” You all but squeaked out.

After he left you, an embarrassed blush spread across your face, and you practically sprinted away to a table in the corner of the cafe. It was by the window and also by an enormous cat tree that harbored a good number of slumbering cats. You gazed at them a bit longingly, wanting them to wake up so you could play with them while you waited. In the meantime you set up your sketchbook and dug around for the few pencils you had lazily flung in your own bag in your haste to get out of your house. You already knew what you wanted drink wise, so you’d only need the menu to figure out a snack for today.

Sure enough, after about a minute or so, the same man came over to hand you a menu and a hot wet towel for your hands. You thanked him before he left you again, saying he’d be back to take your order. You nodded and wiped your hands with the little towel, savoring the nice, warm feeling that made it feel homely in here. Honey Mustard was back at it again, coming over to throw himself down by your feet in the hopes for pets. You laughed quietly to yourself as you buried one of your hands in his soft fur.

Eyes looking up you saw the guy again, noticing that he was really… _attractive,_ to your standards at least. He seemed to be a little run down, you could tell, by the dark circles under his eyes and the messy hair he had slightly pulled back. From the different clothes he was wearing, you put it together that he was the head barista that your friends were talking about. You huffed angrily, debating if you should tell your friends that you were here and that you were  _NOT impressed with how well they knew your type._ You decided against it, going to fawn over the cats running around instead.

“Have you decided already?” The same voice suddenly asked. You jumped a little before looking up sheepishly.

“Um, yeah…” You said looking the menu over again just to be sure. “I’ll have a slice of the strawberry shortcake and… your coffee of the day please.”

“And your name?”

“(Y/n).”

—-

You hated to admit it, but you had been coming to this cat cafe for weeks now. A little over three months really, and you couldn’t stop coming in. You had made friends with all the cats. And I do mean  _ALL_  of them. Even the ones like Garlic Salt who was a little snooty and liked to avoid guests a lot of the time. You’d come to the cafe, sketch, people watch, play with the cats, and occasionally chat with the baristas. Over time you had gotten to know the head Barista. His name was Shouta Aizawa, you found out, and he liked cats _a lot_. That didn’t mean he didn’t like other things. He liked napping as well, and it sounds bad but as soon as he told you, you laughed. It wasn’t because you thought it was dumb or funny. It was because you shared the same like of napping.

And you didn’t miss the blush on his face when you suggested the two of you nap together one day. You waved it off as a joke then, but now you honestly would if he even so much as just asked you in passing. Today, you noticed he wasn’t here as a worker, but rather as a guest, because he was standing at the counter, clothes casual and hair freed from their usual tied back look from work. You oggled a bit,  _unabashedly too,_  as soon as you had come into the cafe. Honey Mustard was on you like a bird on a june bug and as soon as he belted out a loud meow, you knew Shouta was going to look over. But you couldn’t help but keep staring even as you noticed he was looking over.

There was a pause, the two of you seemingly staring each other down until you waved nervously and went to go sit at your usual seat by the window. You noticed however, that your seat was occupied by Arson, the rust colored cat that had a  _particular distaste for being woken up._  You pouted, going to stand there looking saddened while trying to scope out a possible replacement seat. It was then that Shouta came over, eyeing you with a sort of caution you noted. It wasn’t until you gestured towards your chair that he suddenly understood just what was wrong.

“It seems my spot has been taken.” You sigh, acting as if it was the worst thing to happen to you. You weren’t really, but your sarcasm was convincing sometimes.

 _“I see.”_  He says, pondering the situation. He goes over to the rusty cat, you watching him curiously, trying to figure out what the hell he was going to do.

Unceremoniously, he takes the chair and tilts it to the side until the large bundle of fur slides off, meowing loudly in protest. You stand there and snicker, watching Arson glare at the two of you sleepily, not too impressed by the tactic to get him out of your spot. Nevertheless, he trots off anyways, probably to find an even better napping place.

“Aw, you didn’t have to do that.” You laugh a bit, sadly cooing after Arson. “He looked so comfy, too.”

“I’m sure he won’t mind you sitting here.” Shouta says, almost in a matter-of-fact way. “I think he likes you better than any of the employees here anyways.”

 _“Me??_  I don’t think that’s correct.” You say, taking your seat by the window.

“He scratched the shit out of Hizashi after you left yesterday..”

You laugh at that, and the fluttering in your chest seems to subside for a bit, realizing you’re only talking with a friend. _‘A very attractive friend,’_ Your mind seems to want to remind you. After coming here for so long, and getting to know your friend Shouta more and more by the day, it’s hard to keep your feelings out of the mix sometimes. You never missed the times you could see him blush when you’d bring him a cat keychain you’d thought he’d like, or tell him a sleepy looking cat you saw reminded you of him. You weren’t sure if it was because he felt the same way or just wasn’t used to such compliments and friendship.  _‘You’re going to have to tell him eventually.’_

You shake your head, huffing slightly at yourself, Aizawa takes notice but doesn’t say anything thankfully. He pulls a chair over and gestures to your table, as if asking you if he can sit. You nod eagerly, almost  _too_  eagerly if you’re being honest, and he takes a seat across from you.

“Not working today?” You asked, propping your head up on your hands. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without your apron and button up shirt on.”

“No, I was just stopping by to drop off some cat food.” He says, shaking his head slightly. “Are you getting something?”

“Just the usual, you know.” You hum, going to take your sketchbook out of your bag. You grab your worn down pencil and set it on top, waiting for one of the people to come over and take your order.

You watch as Shouta just flags down someone and orders you your usual, and his own just plain black coffee. It’s weird, you think, that he never orders any of the fancy drinks you see on the menu, and half of you wants to ask him why. Though, you feel like you’d get a vague answer about how he doesn’t like sweets or something. So you flip to a page and start sketching, looking at the cat tree to find just who you want to draw today.

“What are you drawing today?” He asks, watching you furrow your brows at the paper.

 _“I don’t know,_ ” You say a little defeated, “might just people watch today actually.”

It doesn’t take long for your drinks to get here, your cup is a little fuller than usual so it’s spilling over the sides as soon as it sets down. The seeping foam flicks onto your sketchbook and in your haste you spill the contents of your sketchbook onto the floor. Loose sheets flutter down onto the floor, and your face pales when you see the numerous amounts of sketches that you had done of Shouta cover the ground like a blanket.

 _You almost shriek_  as you hurriedly try to gather the sheets back into the sketchbook but you know he’s seen a few of the sketches already. Your face feels like it’s on fire, and you can hear your heart racing in your ears. Things seem to come to a blur when you try to focus on them, and you half wonder if you’re going to pass out from embarrassment. It was embarrassing enough to have people see all your dumb unfinished sketches,  _but when someone sees your unfinished sketches of THEM_ , then your only option is to hire a deep web hitman to come and kill you or fling into the sun because  _AHHH._

After gathering all of your things into your arms you bolt upwards to look at your friend, he’s a little red faced, and who can blame him? You both are, technically, extremely embarrassed at this point, and you’d rather the earth open up and swallow you whole.

 _“UM!!”_  You suddenly start but immediately want to kick yourself. “I guess I…?”

You trail off, the voice in your head is louder than ever. _‘Tell him already!! You’ve been crushing on him for three goddamn months!!’_

“Kinda….” You keep going. _‘Now or never idiot!!’_

“Like you….?”

Goddamn it sound more sure about that dumbass  _oh my gods…._ You can’t just say that like it’s being phrased as a question damnit!! This isn’t Jeopardy!! Why yes I’ll have  _“The most embarrassing thing ever”_  for 600 Alex. What is…  _This exact moment?? DING DING DING!!_

You bury your face in your hands for a moment until you heard a short laugh. You look up and he looks like he’s…  _relieved??_  What the  _fuck…_  He takes one of your pencils and a sketch of him with one of the cats. He scribbles something down and then hands the paper to you. You’re dumbstruck, and can’t even manage to compute anything that’s going on.

“Don’t worry about the drink, _it’s on the house today.”_ He says, getting up to leave now.

It’s not until he leaves that you look down at the sketch, he has neat enough handwriting that you can see that he’s written down his number, along with a note that says,  _“Let’s have a proper date then?”_   Honey Mustard meowed from beside you, and you slumped back into your chair.

“Honey Mustard you are never going to believe this shit…”


	2. Josuke - Summer Job

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Managed to get something written after some 40 hour work weeks. I've been trying to finish this between shifts for like,,, ever. Anyways, you're finally at summer break, and want to save up for a new game system. Someone else surprisingly shares the same goal, and you find yourself bonding over the shared trials of a summer job and the need for coffee to get through them.

It was summer break. School had finally released you from its clutches… for now, but unlike some of the other students, you didn’t have time to laze around for the time you were off. You were planning on saving up for a brand new game system. The newest and hottest system had come out along with a flurry of console specific games for it and you  _ needed it damnit. _ That meant you needed a summer job, which, luckily you had already found. You had applied for it towards the end of the semester, before anyone else so you could actually get the job without much competition. You knew a bunch of other kids would be trying to get summer jobs for some spending money, so you planned accordingly. It was a pretty nice job, too, actually. You worked overnights at a packaging facility to do nightly orders, but it wasn’t any of the actual packaging stuff that you did, just scanning barcodes and staring at a computer screen to keep track of orders. 

 

Of course your mom still expected you to get up at the crack of dawn and go run errands for her while she was at work. It wasn’t too bad really, just getting groceries and stuff for the house, though the problem was actually having the energy to do any of these things. You relied heavily on coffee during your nightly shifts that much was certain, and now it seemed like you’d need to be drinking it constantly in order to get shit done. That canned crap wasn’t going to cut it either, especially this morning. 

 

You found yourself dragging your feet on the way down to the local cafe, bag dangling warily from your shoulders. Last night was exhausting, and you were seriously going to murder your coworkers for calling in last night, causing a huge backup of packages AND orders on the computer to back up. You effectively found yourself having to run an assembly lane by yourself. You were never going to let them hear the end of it when you got in tonight. 

 

Pushing the door open sleepily you ran your hand through your half brushed hair, already regretting even stepping in as the loud bustle of people greeted your ears. Groaning, you forced yourself to persevere through this issue in the pursuit of coffee. Gods, you didn’t think this many people lived in Morioh. Well, now that you thought about it, it WAS a small cafe. Looking up you felt your heart stop when you saw literally the cutest guy in your grade walking up to you, in an apron no less. Wait, _was he working here?_

 

You knew Josuke Higashikata from your class, but then again, who the hell didn’t know the guy? He sat just a chair away from you so you always overheard conversations between him and Okuyasu about the weirdest shit, but never commented on it. They never really talked to you besides the time you had a group assignment with them. It was a science lab now that you remembered, and it was conveniently on the only topic you had the most useless knowledge on. So you ended up pulling the two along with you as they rode on your coattails really. You didn’t really mind, because that put you in both of their favors. The only downside was you were pretty sure they thought you were some sort of weirdo for knowing so much and basically taking over the entire thing. 

 

A flush of embarrassment flew over you as you thought back to it with so much anxiety. Jeez, you probably DID look like some weirdo for practically ranting on about that stupid topic now that you thought of it. Ugh, now was not the time to be remembering your embarrassing self. Repress, you shitty memory, REPRESS!! Looking up you suddenly remembered just where the hell you were. 

 

_ Oh gods he’s coming over and I look like a potato rolled down a hill. _

 

“Hey (Y/n)!” He waved, a large smile plastered on his face. 

 

“Ah, uh, hey!” You tried to answer back with the same amount of energy, just barely making it look like you’re at least somewhat alive to the world. 

 

“Fancy meeting you here, huh? What have you been up to this summer?” He asked you, obviously eyeing you curiously. 

 

“I’ve been working overnight shifts at the, uh, mail… packaging… thing-place.” You fumble over your words before sighing and putting a hand over your face, “I’m sorry I really need some coffee.” 

 

You heard him laugh at your loss of coherency, but it’s not in a mocking way or anything, he’s too nice for that kind of thing anyways. 

 

“Well you’re in luck because we have exactly just that here!”  He says before motioning you to follow him. “Let’s go find you a seat.”

 

You make some semblance of an acknowledging noise before you trail behind him slowly. He finds you a seat by the window and away from some of the more noisier guests to which you’re thankful for. He hands you a menu that you don’t remember him grabbing for you but you were probably too tired to notice it anyways so... it was whatever. Coffee first. As you’re attempting to make sense as to what your eyes are looking at you hear a plate break and a few startled grunts. 

 

“Hey I’ll be right back.” Josuke says before leaving you, his usual smile replaced with mild distress.  

 

You hoped he didn't have to clean up too much but he seemed capable of handling a lot of things so you’re sure it’s fine. Thinking about it, you wondered just how long he’d been working here anyways. To be fair, you hadn’t been here in a while, since you’ve been living off of the canned and bottled coffee from vending machines by your house. You settled back down onto the menu before choosing something that looked like would have the most caffeine. 

 

While waiting for your classmate to come back you let your mind wander off into really anything that your tired self thought worth to ramble about. For a split second you found yourself thinking back to just how attractive he was. You’d always pushed this to the back of your mind, the thought of having feelings for such a popular guy would ruin you because... surely he’d find someone better before even thinking about you as an option? You shook your head before resting it on your hand, propped up on the small cafe table. You closed your eyes for just a second, rest feeling very much welcome for your tired eyes. 

 

“Hey! Sorry about that..” Josuke says, suddenly right in front of you.

 

You shrieked and nearly jumped out of your chair, any shred of sleepiness out of you completely now that your friend had accidentally activated your fight or flight response. 

 

“Oh my gods I fell asleep I’m _so sorry.”_ You groaned and hid your face in your hands, grumbling further as you slightly leaned to one side. You heard Josuke laugh a bit and put a reassuring hand on your shoulder. 

 

“It’s okay! Sorry to spook ya though, didn’t mean to.” He says before looking back behind him. “Here, I’ll be right back.”   
  


You watched him run off around the corner, only for him to come back with a pot of coffee and coffee cup in one hand, and a few tiny cream cups in another just a few seconds later. You go to protest but before a word can try to pass by your lips he’s pouring you a full cup of coffee. He sets down the little things of creamer and you stare at him in disbelief. 

 

“You look like you need a little pick me up, so it’s on the house.” He says with a smile and a wink, causing your face to flush. 

 

“No, no I can pay for it I promise.” You insist, suddenly feeling like you might cry for this sudden act of kindness. 

 

“Don’t worry about it. And hey, it’ll keep you tied over until we can get your real drink and food out.” Josuke says, friendly smile never wavering. “What did you say you wanted again?”

 

“Ah, uh, just a coffee of the day…” 

 

“Coming right up.”

 

\----

  
  


After the sudden display of kindness from your classmate, you found yourself unable to be mad at your coworkers that night. Mostly because you had been able to get out most of your frustration by ranting to him. Even though the cafe seemed busy it seemed like he went out of his way to keep you company, which was odd to you. You weren’t sure if it was because he thought of you as a friend or if he just pitied you in your inebriated state of drowsiness. Either way, you were glad for the company, and it gave you time to destress and let out your frustrations from work. 

 

During the time you and Josuke had talked, you had found out that he was also working to save up some money, but you didn’t really get to hear the reason since his manager had come over to drag him away by the ear by that time. You hadn’t realized just how long the two of you had been talking until you looked at your watch. Work was in a few hours, meaning you only had about an hour to grab groceries before leaving to get to work. Since you had already paid, you simply chugged the remnants of your drink before making a hasty exit. 

 

Weeks seemed to fly by just like the time you spent at the cafe that day. You’d visit early in the mornings before work before going to run errands, catching up with the latest gossip and horror stories from work. Sometimes you’d have funny stories about orders or grievances about your coworkers, but nothing was ever more than that. And on the days that you were feeling a little more worse for wear, Josuke would always find a way to cheer you up, whether it be him sneaking you a free pastry, an extra amount of whipped cream on your mocha, or just a story of something dumb he and his friends had gotten into… you were incredibly thankful for his seemingly endless generosity. 

 

Today you found yourself waiting in line at the bank. You were completely off today THANK GODS, and you knew you had gotten paid around sometime last night while you were working. Surely you’d have enough saved up for that game system now… considering that it’d been weeks, you bETTER have enough money saved up. That, or you were going to be at least a little bit pissed off. As you were called to come up to the counter next, you asked to know the balance of your savings, sweating slightly trying not to seem like you were overly excited to be here. It was hard not to be, especially after the teller printed out a small slip and handed it to you. Upon seeing it you had to try and not yell to the heavens about the fact that you had enough saved up and then some. Hurriedly, you transferred some money into your checking before taking off with your card and down the road to the cafe. You just HAD to tell Josuke about this. 

 

You opened the doors to the cafe, frantically searching to see if he was around. A few of the other employees saw you there, looking anxious and obviously looking for a certain teenager. It didn’t take long for him to show up, server apron and everything, but as soon as you saw him you ran over, effectively startling him as you threw your arms around him. 

 

“Whoa, hey!” He chuckled nervously, looking down at you with a quizzical expression. He didn’t have time to say anything else as you exclaimed your excitement.

 

“I did it! I saved up enough money for the game system!!” You yelled excitedly, ignoring the looks of the patrons of the cafe. 

 

Immediately his face lit up, a certain childlike giddiness crossing his face as he hugged you back tightly. He was just as excited about the game system as you were, also working to save up enough for the brand new system himself. He was pretty close to saving up enough, too, but you were a step ahead of him. Though you unfortunately missed the small flush of his face as he looked away for a quick second.

 

“That’s great (Y/n), I’m so proud of you!” He beamed, pulled away just slightly to look at your face. 

 

“I’m about to go down the the store to get it. Are you off soon??” You asked, looking around the cafe. “You should come play with me!”

 

You were a little on the blunt side, and it hadn’t hit you as to what you were implying. It was a little bold, suddenly going to ask the boy you’d been admiring the past entire semester and summer to come play video games with you, but you wouldn’t be deterred, at least for now, because the question had already been asked anyways. When you did realize, however, you became a stuttering mess, suddenly wanting a little space between you and seeing as how hugging in the middle of a cafe might imply something other than just casual friends, you wiggled out of the hug quickly. 

 

“Ah, um! I mean that’s if you want to come play the new games with me…” You trailed off, finding the end of your shirt to fiddle with. 

 

Josuke scratched the back of his head, bashfully going to look away with a small smile, something you found adorable, but before he could get a word out, his manager came barreling over. Without so much as a warning he was dragged away by the ear, quite unceremoniously while he whined and complained about how uncool it was. You watched as he broke free for a hot second, running over while scrawling something on a piece of paper. 

 

“Sorry here’s my number for later, but I gotta go!” He said, quickly handing you the paper much to the protests of his manager. And just like that he sped off leaving you there. 

 

Looking down on the paper you saw the tiny note saying:  _ “It’s a date!!” _

  
“Oh how did I manage _ this…” _


End file.
